For my coursework I researched a number of different magazines, looking at their layout, features they included within their covers, contents and double page spreads. I looked at magazine of a variety of genres as well as age range to get a clear idea of what was to included in my own production. During my research I found that each magazine had its own unquie features which appealed to a certain audience.
Colour Scheme: When I analysed a number of magazines I realised that they all kept the same colour scheme thought the whole of their pages this allows the audience know that each page is from the same magazine, also it gives it more of a professional look. I kept the same colour scheme of black and pink through out my magazine to also allow it to have a professional look like all the magazines I reviewed.
Front CoverOn each front cover there were many features they all included on each one, which were: a masthead, a main image, a colour scheme which was then used through out the magazine and their unquie sell line, however not every magazine included a sell line on their cover. There were also other conventions included, such as the issue date, price, website and bar code. Not every magazine included all of the other conventions listed above though.
Main Image: When researching my front covers I decided to look a different genres to get an idea of how each one appealed to their target audience, I found that most magazines included one large main image of a artist which recently in the charts or had a significant purpose for including that person/s on the cover. Most images on the covers were taken in a mid-shot or close up, very few of them were from a distance as a full range shot, the reason for this was because the images taken had a direct mode of address towards the audience because they were directly looking at you, drawing you into the magazine to persuade you to buy it. When taking my own image I tried to make sure that for each image I took I wanted my model staring directly into the camera to have the same effect on my own target audience, also I noticed that most images for the cover didnt have a background which meant I was required to edit the image before putting it on my actual cover.
Sell Lines: Sell lines are just as effective as the image because these pull the reader in by making them intrigued about something on the cover, which then causes them to buy it. I found when researching magazines that most sell lines are either giving something away free to their audience which makes them buy the magazine. I also noticed that each sell lines are effective and have a connection with the magazine in a way of making the magazine seem the 'best'; most sell lines tend you use the word 'best' or emply that they are the best magazine in that genre or even the only one within that genre. I created my sell line to draw the audeince in by giving them 10 free downloads which makes the audience want to buy that magazine just to get their free downloads.
Cover Lines: When researching my magazine covers I noticed that they were the most important part of the cover as, they themselves actually sold the magazine. Most people only buy a magazine because of the story they are featuring inside or the catchy cover line that is used intrugies them. I also found that most magazines tended to have one large cover line which was the main article within the magazine then smaller ones either side of the image. I decided to have two main cover lines directly below my masthead and eiother side of the image then smaller ones further down the oage either side of the image. The reason for me doing this is because one of the magazines I anaylsed had done this and I thought that it was a really great layout that grabbed my audience's attentions because of the interesting look to it. When producing my cover lines I also decided that I would only used to main colours for my colour sheme which was a shocking pink colour that I took from my image then used it with the contrast of black to allow it to stand out more.
Other Conventions: Most magazines included other conventions, such as: personal website, date, issue number, bar code and price. The reason for them including other conventions is because it allows the audience the audience to know the price of the magazine and their own personal website that they can view. The issue number allows them to know how many magazines have been produced and if they have missed out on any issues. I decided to include conventions on my own cover because it gives the audience that little bit more information.
Contents page
When researching contents pages I also looked a a genre of magazines, I tried to view a contents page for each magazine cover I reviewed to see if they had a continuous theme going through there pages. Which was the case with most magazines as they used the same font, colour scheme and intended to include their logo on each of their pages.
Images: When looking at the contents pages I found that each contents had either one main image of a few smaller ones, each image was connected to the one of the main story focus on the contents page or with the front cover. I found that with the images it gave me a clearing understanding of the articles included within the magazine, because some of the images actually told the story itself. I decided that i was going to use one main image on the contents page as the layout I had used wouldn't have suited having more than one image, also on my audience research my target audience said that they would prefer only one main image used on the content page. The image used was a simple plain image as I didn't want too much going on in the image when there is so much text included on that page.
Layout: While looking at the layout of the contents pages I realised that no magazine had the same layout for their contents page, however a lot of them did have the list of their stories names positioned on the left or right hand side of the page. Some of the contents pages included subscription options on the bottom of them page which is a suitable position for them to be place as it would fill in a gap if needed to be and will inform the audience that they are able to get the magazine sent to them every month. When creating my contents page I particularly liked Q magazines contents page because it had a very layout with not too much information included on the page, so I basically had the same design layout as theres but a few tweaks of my own to it. I decided to have a similar layout as Q's because I knew that layout would appeal to my own target audience.
Magazine name: When looking at each of my analysed contents pages I found that most magazines included their magazine name within it somewhere either being a 'strum' review or in the corner of the page they may have their logo in a small size.
Story Titles: Each story title included on the content pages that I reviewed all had the same layout of having the font all the same with the page number being in a different colour and sometimes bolder than the actual story title. The position of the story titles are always in a list below one another on one side of the page. When I created my own I had the same formatting for for the list of the page's titles and numbers.
Double page spread
I analysed a number a of double page spreads which I again tried to make sure that they were from the same magazines as the covers and contents pages. Most double page spreads I looked at had a whole page image with the page next to it with all the text in columns. I took into consideration how each magazine created their double page spread when creating my own.
Coloums: On every magazines double page spread they have all their text written columns which is well presented as it is clear and easy to read as you just follow on from one column to the next. I decided to have a full page image and the page next to it will all the text on it as it is a neat layout, making it look professional and not over crowed.
Images: In all double page spreads the image tends to tell its own story or has a link to do with the actual article written. Each of the articles either had a few main images positions at the top half of the pages or one full page image which is very effective towards the audience because the full page image makes more people want to read that article because they see that there isn't loads to read. On my own article I included a full page image because it was more appealing towards my own target audience because that was the most voted answer in m audience research.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents a particular social group being teenagers aged 16-18 because that was the average age of my audience research. I decided that this would be the best age rand for my media products because it is the same age group of mean, which means that they will be interested in finding out the latest information, trends and 'gossip' about celebrities. I also choose a genre of music that is in the charts which I know people from that age group tend to listen to the most as it is played and shown everywhere. I didn't want my magazine to only be appealing to one sex, the reason for doing this is because when I asked my target audience to answer my questionnaires I had males and females answering them and they both seemed to like the same type of things so either way I created my productions I knew that both males and females would appreciate it. I also included images of both males and females in my productions to appeal to both sexes.
My media product represents a particular social group being teenagers aged 16-18 because that was the average age of my audience research. I decided that this would be the best age rand for my media products because it is the same age group of mean, which means that they will be interested in finding out the latest information, trends and 'gossip' about celebrities. I also choose a genre of music that is in the charts which I know people from that age group tend to listen to the most as it is played and shown everywhere. I didn't want my magazine to only be appealing to one sex, the reason for doing this is because when I asked my target audience to answer my questionnaires I had males and females answering them and they both seemed to like the same type of things so either way I created my productions I knew that both males and females would appreciate it. I also included images of both males and females in my productions to appeal to both sexes.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When researching different institutions I thought that the best one that suited to my media productions would probably be EMAP, the reason for this is that this is British company who distribute Q, Mojo and mixmag which are seen as quite big in the British industry. Although Q and Mojo are more associated with Rock music, and mixmag is more associated with the dance music, there is a gap in their market that my magazine would fit into as my music magazine is a genre of all types of music as it is based purely on chart music. However them three magazines seem to have the same target audience as mine, because they are aimed towards the younger generation.
Despite this I think it may also be difficult for my magazine to be distributed by this company because they will have to change their focus from rock and dance to a magazine with all genres of music, however with the experience this distribution has I think they would be able to expand their business into a wider range of genres which would generate a wider target audience for them which will then lead to them having greater profits.
When researching different institutions I thought that the best one that suited to my media productions would probably be EMAP, the reason for this is that this is British company who distribute Q, Mojo and mixmag which are seen as quite big in the British industry. Although Q and Mojo are more associated with Rock music, and mixmag is more associated with the dance music, there is a gap in their market that my magazine would fit into as my music magazine is a genre of all types of music as it is based purely on chart music. However them three magazines seem to have the same target audience as mine, because they are aimed towards the younger generation.
Despite this I think it may also be difficult for my magazine to be distributed by this company because they will have to change their focus from rock and dance to a magazine with all genres of music, however with the experience this distribution has I think they would be able to expand their business into a wider range of genres which would generate a wider target audience for them which will then lead to them having greater profits.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I think that the audience for my media product would middle/working class because the age group of my magazine is 16-18 also because of the genre of my magazine being all types of music. I think that this genre of music is more likely to be listened to by this social group rather than upper class who are stereotypically more likely to listen to classical music. I have also created my media product to appealing to both males and females allowing me to have a wide target audience and no discrimination toward either sex.
I think that the audience for my media product would middle/working class because the age group of my magazine is 16-18 also because of the genre of my magazine being all types of music. I think that this genre of music is more likely to be listened to by this social group rather than upper class who are stereotypically more likely to listen to classical music. I have also created my media product to appealing to both males and females allowing me to have a wide target audience and no discrimination toward either sex.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I tried to attract my audience though the use of my colour scheme, cover lines, masthead, image and sell line. I used my colour scheme by using pale backgrounds to the pages with bright pink and black text on top of it allowing it stand out from the background. Also the use of my images standing out boldly from my pale grey background attracts my audience. All my cover lines include the latest 'gossip' that is happening now, the reason for this is because everyone likes to know what is going on within celebrities lives. I ensured that my masthead would be largely spread across the page in a bright bold font that would attract my audience attention, also I think that the actual title of my magazine is quite effective itself. The image I used on my front cover as a direct mode of address because I had my model looking directly into the camera at my target audience which make them feel involved in the magazine and slightly force them into buying. I think that my sell line plays a huge role on my cover as it is stating that the magazine is giving away 10 downloads of chart music which will entice my target audience into buying it because everyone likes to get a 'bargain', which is what this magazine is doing.
I tried to attract my audience though the use of my colour scheme, cover lines, masthead, image and sell line. I used my colour scheme by using pale backgrounds to the pages with bright pink and black text on top of it allowing it stand out from the background. Also the use of my images standing out boldly from my pale grey background attracts my audience. All my cover lines include the latest 'gossip' that is happening now, the reason for this is because everyone likes to know what is going on within celebrities lives. I ensured that my masthead would be largely spread across the page in a bright bold font that would attract my audience attention, also I think that the actual title of my magazine is quite effective itself. The image I used on my front cover as a direct mode of address because I had my model looking directly into the camera at my target audience which make them feel involved in the magazine and slightly force them into buying. I think that my sell line plays a huge role on my cover as it is stating that the magazine is giving away 10 downloads of chart music which will entice my target audience into buying it because everyone likes to get a 'bargain', which is what this magazine is doing.
I attracted the audience by also handing out questionairres to mixed sexes within my target audience which allowed me to know exactly what my target audience wanted included within my magazine.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
When producing this magazine I used a number of programs, which were: Microsoft publisher, Fireworks and the internet for researching and blogger. However because I had used all of these programs before I didn't learn any new skills while constructing my product because I was already very familiar with these programs, blogger was the only program that I had never used before. This program was actually really easy to use once I got signed on to it because it was just like every other program that I had used before; change the text and adding image was used in the exact same way as Microsoft programs.
What I learnt about the process of constructing this product was how magazines were created and how much detail was put into each production of them, I never realised how much thought was put into creating magazine until I had to create one myself. It is a long process of editing and creating a number of items until you actually have a full productions, you also have to think very carefully about what you are going to include within your article. Overall I haven't learnt any new skills for using the programs I used but I have a better knowledge of the process and ideas behind magazines now.
When producing this magazine I used a number of programs, which were: Microsoft publisher, Fireworks and the internet for researching and blogger. However because I had used all of these programs before I didn't learn any new skills while constructing my product because I was already very familiar with these programs, blogger was the only program that I had never used before. This program was actually really easy to use once I got signed on to it because it was just like every other program that I had used before; change the text and adding image was used in the exact same way as Microsoft programs.
What I learnt about the process of constructing this product was how magazines were created and how much detail was put into each production of them, I never realised how much thought was put into creating magazine until I had to create one myself. It is a long process of editing and creating a number of items until you actually have a full productions, you also have to think very carefully about what you are going to include within your article. Overall I haven't learnt any new skills for using the programs I used but I have a better knowledge of the process and ideas behind magazines now.
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